Sergio Sorinas

On April 27th , 2018, the Authority authorized, subject to commitments, the acquisition of exclusive control by Carrefour Supermarchés France of the companies Zormat and Les Chênes, which operate two predominantly food-dominated businesses with service stations under the Carrefour Market (...)

The Authority has authorised TF1’s acquisition of sole control of Aufeminin, previously owned by the media group Axel Springer. Aufeminin operates the Internet sites of the same name and others such as Marmiton and My Little Paris, and markets the advertising space on these sites. It also (...)

On 20 April 2018, the Authority unconditionally cleared two transactions concerning the combination of distance selling (’DOS’) players (Sarenza and Spartoo) and in-store retail players (Monoprix and André) in the footwear distribution sector. In the first decision (No 18-DCC-50), the (...)

The Authority has cleared without commitment a concentration between two online real estate classifieds giants in France. The Axel Springer group, to which SeLoger belongs, has thus acquired sole control of Concept Multimédia, which owns the company Logic-Immo. As mentioned in a previous (...)

The Authority’s decision dated 10 November 2017 signs the reunification of the two names of Joseph Gibert’s heir sons almost 90 years after their separation: Gibert Joseph and Gibert Jeune bookstores. The examination of the transaction did not raise any particular competition concerns. The (...)

Following financial difficulties, the Financière Turenne Lafayette (FTL) group (Madrange and Paul Prédault brands in the cured meats sector, and William Saurin, Panzani and Garbit in the ready meals sector) was subject to receivership proceedings before the Paris Commercial Court. The court (...)

In line with the consultation launched in October 2016 by the European Commission on these subjects, the Authority published on its website on 20 October 2017 a public consultation aimed at gathering comments from anyone who wished to respond to it on certain avenues for reflection on a (...)

The soap opera Altice / SFR has made a particularly strong impression over the last two years. Does the decision of the Conseil d’État handed down on September 28, 2017 mark the final act of this season full of twists and turns? Summary of previous episodes In a decision dated October 30, (...)

The French Competition Authority announced that on 11 September 2017, it had taken up an ex-officio case to examine the conditions under which the Fnac group is implementing the commitments it made in connection with the acquisition of the Darty group. As a reminder, this transaction was (...)

The Authority has decided to open an in-depth investigation into the operation whereby the Axel Springer Group acquires sole control of the company Concept Multimedia. The purchaser and the target are both active in the online real estate classifieds market through SeLoger.com and (...)

Five years after the 2012 decision authorizing, subject to compliance with 33 injunctions, the acquisition of exclusive control of TPS and CanalSatellite by Vivendi and Canal Plus Group (GCP) (Dec. No. 12-DCC-100 dated July 23, 2012, Obs. O. Billard), the Authority agreed to review its (...)

Three years after the 2014 decision authorizing, subject to the implementation of several commitments, the acquisition of Direct 8 and Direct Star by Vivendi and Canal Plus Group (GCP) (Dec. No. 14-DCC-50 dated April 2, 2014, obs. S. Sorinas, E. Jegou and C. Barraud), the Authority agreed to (...)

The French Competition Authority has authorized SFR Group to take sole control of Groupe News Participations. SFR Group is controlled by the Altice Group, which is mainly active in the telecommunications, television, print media and advertising sectors. For its part, News Participations Group (...)

The French Competition Authority has authorised the acquisition of sole control of the Flo group by the Bertrand group. These two groups specialize in commercial catering and own several brands such as Burger King, Quick, Café Leffe, Hippopotamus and Maître Kanter’s Tavern. The Authority (...)

The Petit Forestier group decided to abandon its plan to acquire sole control of the Fraikin group following the Authority’s decision to open an in-depth investigation (Dec. No 27-DEX-01 of 13 January 2017). Petit Forestier and Fraikin are the two biggest players on the French market for the (...)

On November 9, 2016, the European Commission has approved the acquisition of Merial, Sanofi’s animal health subsidiary, by Boehringer Ingelheim ("BI"), a German pharmaceutical company specialized in the development, production, distribution and marketing of pharmaceutical products including (...)

The Competition Authority heavily sanctioned the Altice group for having implemented two concentrations before obtaining its approval. While it has already imposed fines for failure to notify or to comply with commitments, this is the first time that the Authority has had to rule on the early (...)

Vinci Airports, a subsidiary of Vinci, develops and operates 34 airports worldwide, including 12 in France. Aéroports de Lyon is an airport concession company that develops, operates and operates the Lyon-Saint Exupéry and Lyon-Bron airports. Prior to the operation, Aéroports de Lyon was (...)

Within a few months, the Eurofins Group, active in the management of analytical, testing and technical inspection laboratories for private companies and public bodies, acquired sole control of the Bio-Access Group and later the Biomnis Group, two groups of laboratories specialising in medical (...)

Soufflet Agriculture and Sobra have applied to the judge in charge of summary proceedings at the Conseil d’État for a stay of execution of Decision No. 16-DCC-147 of 21 September 2016 by which the Competition Authority authorised the acquisition of exclusive control by Axéréal Participations (...)

Following the work undertaken in recent years on the operation of EU Regulation 139/2004 of 20 January 2004 (the "Merger Regulation"), and in particular its 2014 White Paper "Towards more effective merger control in the EU", the European Commission launched a new public consultation on 7 (...)

The European Commission has cleared in Phase 1, subject to commitments, the proposed creation of a joint venture between Vodafone and Liberty Global in the Netherlands by decision of 3 August 2016. The Vodafone Group is an international group specialising in the operation of mobile (...)

Halliburton and Baker Hughes, respectively the world’s second and third largest oil service providers, announced in November 2014 their intention to move closer together. According to the notification of the transaction to the European Commission of 27 November 2015, Halliburton would have (...)

By a decision dated October 30, 2014 (Decision No. 14-DCC-160, Altice / SFR), the French Competition Authority authorized the acquisition of sole control of SFR by the Altice group, subject to the implementation of a number of commitments, including the commitment to divest the mobile (...)

By a decision of 15 May 2015 (Decision No 15-DCC-53, UGI Bordeaux Holding / Totalgaz), the Competition Authority approved the acquisition of sole control of Totalgaz ("Totalgaz") by UGI Bordeaux Holding ("UGI") after a phase I procedure, subject to the implementation of commitments. These (...)

In the course of investigating a case, the Competition Authority became aware of a merger between the Castel group and the Patriarche group. However, such a transaction had not been notified to the Authority’s services. Following exchanges between the Authority and the parties, the parties (...)

On February 29, 2016, the Commission approved the acquisition of control of EMC by Dell. The clearance decision was adopted following a Phase I review without commitments. Dell is a U.S. company, active in the development, sale and repair of computers and related products, such as storage (...)

By a decision dated November 13, 2014 (decision no. 14-DCC-164, Carrefour / Unibail-Rodamco), the French Competition Authority has authorized the acquisition by Carrefour of a portfolio of six shopping malls from Unibail-Rodamco, and in particular the purchase of the Bab 2 shopping mall (...)

It should be noted that the only commitments accepted in the case of M. 7678, Equinix v. Telecity, were published on 12 November 2015 and were the subject of a decision by the Commission to authorise the operation on the basis of Article 6(2)(b). These commitments were proposed by Equinix to (...)

By a decision of 18 September 2015, the French Competition Authority authorised the acquisition of sole control subject to commitments from the Audika Group by the William Demant Group. William Demant is one of the leading manufacturers of hearing aid products in Europe. The group (...)

By decision of 4 August 2015, the Commission has approved the acquisition of Hospira by Pfizer under Articles 6(1)(b) and 6(2) of the EU Merger Regulation. Both companies, based in the US, are active in the development and marketing of medicines for human use. However, the approval was (...)

In its Decision No. 15-DCC-104 of 30 July 2015, the French Competition Authority authorised, subject to conditions, the acquisition of exclusive control by the Rubis group, which is active in France and internationally in the butane, propane and LPG distribution sector (hereinafter "Rubis"), (...)

By decision of 8 June 2015, the French Competition Authority authorised the acquisition of Totalgaz by UGI France subject to structural commitments relating in particular to the sale of part of the stake that the new entity would hold in certain import and storage infrastructures. The (...)

The proposed transaction between the French group Lafarge and the Swiss group Holcim will enable the new entity to become the world’s largest cement manufacturer, present in more than 90 countries worldwide. The Commission considered that the transaction could harm competition because of (...)

The company Wienerberger, which produces and markets structural materials, filed an application with the French Council of State to annul the decision of the French Competition Authority of July 26, 2013 authorizing Bouyer-Leroux’s acquisition of sole control of Imerys’ "structural materials" (...)

By decision of 30 October 2014, following an in-depth phase II investigation, the Authority authorised the acquisition by Numericable Group (Numericable), a subsidiary of the Altice Group, of sole control of SFR. Prior to the transaction, SFR was exclusively controlled by the Vivendi group, (...)

On June 5, 2014, the European Commission unconditionally approved the acquisition of Cemex West by its Swiss competitor Holcim after a phase II and 9 months of investigation. Both companies supply cement and other building materials worldwide. The proposed transaction concerns the (...)

By decision of 17 April 2014, the Authority authorised the acquisition by Orlait, a subsidiary of Candia, itself a subsidiary of Sodiaal, of exclusive control of the long-life drinking milk business of the Terra Lacta cooperative. The decision is noteworthy both for the analysis of the (...)

By two decisions handed down on April 9, 2014, the Conseil d’Etat dismissed the appeals for abuse of power filed by the Association des centres distributeurs Edouard Leclerc (hereinafter "the ACDLec"), against the decisions of the French Competition Authority No.12-DCC-125 of August 27, 2012 (...)

Perhaps the latest in a long series of decisions concerning Canal Plus Group, the Authority’s decision dated April 2, 2014 once again authorizes, subject to enhanced undertakings, the acquisition by Vivendi and Canal Plus Group (hereinafter "GCP") of exclusive control of D8, D17, Direct (...)

In a judgment handed down on 11 December 2013 in Case T-79/12 (Cisco Systems Inc. and others v. European Commission), the Court of First Instance of the European Union confirmed the validity of the Commission’s decision which had authorised, in phase I and without commitment, Microsoft’s (...)

Eur. Com, 05.12.2013, Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 4). On 5 December 2013, the European Commission adopted a series of measures to simplify its merger control procedures. In (...)

It should also be pointed out that the judge in charge of summary proceedings of the Council of State rejected the application for a stay of execution, filed by the company Wienerberger, of the Bouyer-Leroux/Imerys decision (see above) for lack of urgency.

In a decision of July 26, 2013, the French Competition Authority authorized, subject to the implementation of commitments, the acquisition of Imerys TC’s "structural materials" assets by Bouyer-Leroux. Bouyer-Leroux and Imerys TC are two major producers of wall bricks and the two main (...)

By a decision of 16 April 2013, the French Competition Authority authorised, subject to the implementation of commitments, the acquisition of the Champagne-Ardennes-Picardie Cluster. (hereinafter ’the CAP division’) of the Hersant Média group (hereinafter ’GHM’) by the Belgian press group (...)

By a decision of 14 March 2013, the French Competition Authority authorised the acquisition of sole control of Novatrans by the Charles André Group (GCA), two companies active in the freight transport sector. Prior to 2006, Novatrans was jointly owned by SNCF, the Charles André Group, the (...)

On 12 December 2012, the Court of First Instance confirmed the Commission’s decision imposing a fine of €20 million on Electrabel for having acquired sole control of Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR) without prior authorisation from the Commission. This case, which is emblematic because of (...)

Constitutional Council, Decision No. 2012-280 QPC of 12 October 2012 In a decision dated October 12, 2012 (Cons. const., decision no. 2012-280 QPC of October 12, 2012), the French Constitutional Court confirmed the priority constitutionality question (hereinafter, "QPC") raised by Canal Plus (...)

Aut. conc. dec. no. 12-DCC-125 of 27 August 2012 relating to the joint takeover of 28 food-dominated retail stores by the Union des Coopérateurs d’Alsace and the Association des Centres Distributeurs E.Leclerc In the present case, the competitive analysis did not raise any particular (...)

Eur. comm., dec. art. 8, § 1 R.139/2004, 19 October 2011, Caterpillar v. MWM, case COMP/M.6106 The present case provides a further example of an unconditional approval decision at the end of Phase II, which is becoming less and less rare (see e.g. the UPM/Myllukoskiand Rhein Papier decisions (...)